Today, we did two different hikes near Bled, Slovenia and I could not stop ogling at the gorgeous autumn foliage. It’s spectacular! Plus the sun was out and there was a crisp breeze so the weather was ideal for hiking.

The second big leg of our travels is through Europe—where we are now. When planning how to spend our allowed three months here (because Visas), Andrew had Scandinavia on the top of his list. Since it’s so far North, we knew it would be our first stop, before it gets too cold. (Side note: it’s still pretty cold.)

You can read part 1 here, which outlines the first 10 days of trekking the Annapurna Circuit.

After we crossed Thorong La (our big 17,700-foot accomplishment of the trek) on Day 10, our hike down from the pass was mostly steep, steep, STEEP! It was a vast contrast from everything else we had experienced and it was painful in a whole new way we didn't expect.

It has been two whole weeks since we got off the Annapurna trail through the Himalayas and returned to “normal” travel life—moving by cars, trains, and planes instead of our own two feet. And although I was happy for a rest and some clean fresh laundry, I find myself looking at photos from the trail nearly every day, still in awe of the Annapurna Conservation Area. I loved the trek so much that I left the trail with a list of thru hikes to complete in 2019 and a renewed desire to trail run.

Anyway, it is about time I share some stories and photos from this incredible trek.

I said goodbye as we went into the Himalayas to hike the Annapurna Circuit, but didn’t explain much else. So, below are answers to some questions I had about the circuit when I first heard about it. Hopefully, this will help future posts make more sense.

We have visitors! My dad and close family friend, Brian, just arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal to hang with us for over two weeks. That's only the beginning of the excitement. Now, we are prepping and packing. But tomorrow. Tomorrow, we will all drive out to the Himalayas and start 16-ish days of trekking on the Annapurna Circuit.

We started this year of travel with only a handful of must-do activities. For me, spending a day with rescued elephants was very close to the top of that list. So, when I realized we would be in Chiang Mai on my birthday I knew exactly how we would spend it—with elephants.